From Outer Space to Studio 8H: Jane Curtin and the Legacy of the Coneheads

It was 1977 when American audiences first met a strange family from France—or so they claimed. With their towering, conical heads, robotic speech, and bizarre customs, the Coneheads stepped onto the Saturday Night Live stage and into comedy history.

At the center of it all was Jane Curtin as Prymaat Conehead, the sharp, stoic matriarch. With deadpan precision, Curtin delivered lines that would become instant catchphrases: “Consume mass quantities.” “We are from France.” Her cool, almost regal presence was the perfect counterpart to Dan Aykroyd’s exuberant Beldar and Laraine Newman’s teenage Connie.

The brilliance of the Coneheads lay in the absurdity of their attempts to assimilate. They wore wigs and suburban clothing, but their alien quirks shone through: inhaling six-packs of beer in seconds, gnawing on raw potatoes, or rattling off scientific jargon while insisting they were simply “typical Earthlings.”

Curtin’s contribution was essential. She grounded the sketch with an air of authority, playing Prymaat as both otherworldly and oddly relatable. Beneath the cone and prosthetics, she radiated the intelligence, wit, and comedic timing that made her one of the original cast’s strongest pillars.

The Coneheads quickly became one of SNL’s most beloved recurring sketches, a satirical mirror of immigrant assimilation and suburban conformity disguised as pure nonsense. Their catchphrases echoed in schoolyards and office halls across America.

The characters became so iconic that in 1993, they returned in a feature-length film, proving their longevity well beyond late-night television.

For Jane Curtin, Prymaat Conehead remains one of her most recognizable roles, though her career has spanned everything from groundbreaking sketch comedy to acclaimed sitcoms. Her work reminds us that sometimes, the funniest moments come from playing it straight in the middle of chaos.

Nearly half a century later, the Coneheads still stand tall—literally—in the pantheon of SNL’s greatest creations. And Jane Curtin’s Prymaat remains the heart of that legacy: dry, brilliant, and utterly unforgettable.